AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 29, 2023

Stefanos Tsitsipas

Press Conference

N. DJOKOVIC/S. Tsitsipas

6-3, 7-6, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Stefanos, bad luck on your result today. You gave absolutely everything during this match and during the tournament. What was the difference today for you?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I had trouble getting ahold of my serve in the beginning, which was noticeable. I wouldn't say I was nervous. I was excited actually to be out on the court, getting an opportunity to fight for that No. 1 spot tonight. I was really looking forward to the game, giving myself a good chance out there.

There are definitely things that I can improve and get better at, given the circumstances today. But I don't think there's any reason for me to be affected by today's loss. It is a step forward. I'm looking forward to scoring more points during this season, making bigger results, fighting for bigger trophies.

I very much enjoy the way I play, my attitude on the court, my mental stability, my concentration levels. There's still a little bit more to add to the whole structure of my game. I couldn't be more excited to be heading towards that path.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. It was quite noisy. The umpire was going to shush the crowd. You cracked on and served. You did it a couple of times. Were you just so locked in you didn't hear it? Are you happy with the noise around you?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I didn't pay attention to it. I don't know what you're talking about.

Q. It happened a few times. Even when the crowd wasn't quiet, you just cracked on. Was that reflective of a really concentrated focus?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Perhaps, yeah. You can say so.

Q. I wondered tactically what your plan was going into the match and how well you felt you were able to execute it tonight.

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, I did everything possible in order to get a good match against him. My team is working exceptionally to give me the best way that I can approach this, especially today.

There is nothing that I didn't use in my advantage. There's nothing that I could have extracted more for today. I did everything possible.

You know, Novak is a player that pushes you to your limits. I don't see this as a curse. I don't see this as something, like, annoying. This is very good for the sport, to have competitors like him, to have champions like him.

He's very important for us that want to get to his point one day. Getting our asses kicked is for sure a very good lesson every single time.

He has made me a much better player. He has made my levels of concentration higher and higher every single time I get to play him. You have to be really involved and you have to be dedicated to the game when you play against him.

I find it a very important part of my career, to have a player like him that will help me grow better and do bigger things, speaking for my game.

Q. You had some really heartfelt words for Novak on court. Was that largely spontaneous, in the moment?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: What happened?

Q. You had some kind words for Novak on court. Was that a spontaneous decision to speak like that?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Myself or him?

Q. You.

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Himself about me or vice versa?

Q. Talking about him.

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Look, I'm not making anything up. The numbers speak for themselves. It's 22, isn't it? We have other great champions, too, like Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer also, in my opinion, one of the best our sport has ever seen. But not only our sport, sports in general.

I think we're blessed that we have three big champions like this. I don't want to give the whole title to him, because I believe there are other players that have contributed a lot, and they're the main reason I am here today as well. Novak is one of them, too. I've been watching him as a kid, as well. I really liked the way he did things on the court with his game.

But, yeah, I definitely meant it. He has earned it with so much dedication that he has put in, with so much professionalism in his everyday life. It's a wake-up call for me to sort of do the same. I can only learn from that. I can only use that for my benefit. I'm blessed that I get the opportunity to do that.

In today's world with social media, all the information you can extract, the news is actually the best era to be playing tennis at.

Q. Obviously a major disappointment right now, but when you look back on this match, do you think you'll be able to get confidence out of the fact that you were able to work yourself back in the match and have genuine chances in the second set to level it?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Look, I'm not thinking about the match anymore. I'm happy with the -- I'm just happy that I'm in another Grand Slam final. Of course, I was dreaming about the trophy, lifting that trophy. I even dreamt it last night in my sleep.

The desire is really there. I really, really want it badly. But just dreaming about it won't make it happen. You got to act. You got to do something out there. You got to be present even more and do better.

Today I felt like there were moments that I was close, but the tiebreak didn't really show that both ways. Just bad starts. So I'll just eliminate it, take the good things, move on from there.

It's a long season. It's an exhausting season. I got to be physically ready for the difficult matches that I will have to play this year against the best players in the world.

I'm just thinking ahead. I'm thinking forward and not backward. Losing finals is not the best feeling in the world, for sure. Might sometimes, let's say, be easier to sort of absorb a semifinal loss because you're not dealing with the spotlight of the final.

But definitely much better playing finals than being stuck behind in the semifinals. I'll take that for sure. I just need to take that one more step where I can consistently lift trophies and win slams and Masters 1000 events.

Q. Hearing all of that, your perspective on the loss right now, can you compare the emotions of now to at the same point after the final in Paris?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: Well, Paris was heartbreaking. I was two sets to love up. I wasn't really thinking that I was two sets to love up. I mean, I was aware of it, but it didn't occupy too much of my thought process.

Let's say I did some technical decisions there that were wrong, which I'm pretty sure I'm not going to repeat again in my career. Just pure stubbornness from my side.

I can't see or feel the same again, because that was a different final from what we had today. That was disappointing, for sure. A lot of not-such-nice things happened for me that day, losing my grandmother the day of the final, not knowing about it but finding out later.

There was something in the air that day that made it feel that there was something odd about that day. I still remember it. I don't want to remember it because it's not a nice feeling.

It's mixed emotions because I played my first Grand Slam final and at the same time I had that circumstance. So just moving on. Happy life (smiling).

Q. After New York last year, you talked about how the possibility of getting quite close to No. 1 had been on your mind that summer. You said it maybe affected you a little bit. Did you think about it at all over these two weeks, been within one win of world No. 1. Is that going to be more or less of a focus?

STEFANOS TSITSIPAS: I want to max out in what I do in my profession. No. 1 is on my mind. It doesn't come easy, I know that. I got to work harder to make that happen.

Today was my opportunity to be a world No. 1. I had a better opponent on the other side of the net who did things much better than me. He deserves that spot currently.

What I can say is being on the tour for a few years now, I get a lot of different experiences, I get a lot of different things that I'm faced with.

It's my time to aim for something like this. I don't see any reason to be lowering my expectations or my goals. I am born a champion. I can feel it in my blood. I can feel it as a competitive kid that I was when I was young. It's something that is within me.

I want to harvest that, make it bloom, make it even stronger and fonder, work hard towards those goals.

It's that beautiful number, the number '1', that will make things extremely emotional when converting that.